The Untold Story

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou

Writing is one of my favorite pastimes. When I have a free moment, a pen and paper or a computer in front of me, I will be writing. It's what I love. There was actually a point in my life when I had an English professor ask me why I was not continuing my education in English (I started my college degree as an English Major with a focus on Creative Writing). My reply was simple and straight forward, "I love it too much to be paid for it."

I look back on this and think how true it is, but also how foolish the answer was at the same time.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou

As I have had time to look back at myself when I said that and realize where I have come, I still end up having to shake my head.

Recently, I have been writing more and in a different style than I have ever written. It's like I have finally found my voice.

As a side note, I do not mean this blog. I have a couple of things I have been working on, but one has honestly peaked my interest like no other story has. This story is not in my typical genre and I honestly love it!

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou

I have found a story that is worth telling and to be honest, it has consumed my mind and caused me to think in a completely different perspective. It is like I am learning from this character that I am creating, because she is not just an extension of me, but her own identity and mannerisms and opinions.

When you have that story inside you and finally find it and then you start writing it out, it is absolutely freeing. It's like all the internal pain is being released and this other world is being born out of the chaos of the writer's mind. It's such a beautiful experience to go through.

So if you have a story inside of you, then write it! Since it is agony if you hold it inside of yourself.

Radom Friday Changes

I am going to hit one thing in today's post. So let's get down to it.

First things first, I am changing random Friday's to random Saturday for the simple fact that I always end up writing the next day and saying "oops." So I am fixing the problem. Plus, it was way easier to write on Fridays when I was not working full-time (crazy how that happens).

I bet you wonder why I just don't cut this post out, because this is my most inconsistent posts? The answer is simple, because I enjoy writing random Friday (now Saturday) posts. I enjoy not being stuck to writing on a specific topic, even though I love my other two themed days.

Random day posts help me write about items that aren't necessarily in the confines of the other two days. it also forces me to think out of the box on what to write about. Some of these posts are actually the hardest for me to write, because they aren't as easily planned for. The other two days I can plan for, research and understand the parameters that I am writing in.

That is why I appreciate this days posts as much as I do because it stretches me to think more and forces me to write on a variety of topics or to be able to expand on the many things that I enjoy.

So that's all I have for today. Random Friday's are changing to Random Saturday. Now let's hope I can be a bit more consistent on posting.

Social Media: Quantity vs. Quality

Originally tonight's topic was going to be about content marketing again, but that changed. Yesterday, I was on twitter following Pam Moore (@PamMktgNut) for the Tuesday's Get Real Chats where she and others answer questions. It was the first time I was able to follow the vast majority of it and one of her tweets made me excited and I will admit that I may have been a little bit overly excited on this tweet:

This is the best tweet that summarizes my philosophy on social media.

The idea of focusing on your strengths rather than trying to be on every social networking site is not a mind blowing concept, but it is a concept that is difficult to keep in mind. To get your brand name out, you want to be on many sites. That's getting your name out, but is that really the best strategy to do? What this really boils down to is the idea of Quality versus Quantity.

Far too often the idea of Quality is forgotten in social media. People assume that if you post a lot or post at the perfect time of day or are on every social network, then your social media strategy will work. This is just a fallacy! Posting a lot or having a presence on every social media site just means quantity. It does not mean that the content on that site is full of quality.

When a company is running their social media site on the quantity idea, then they may not be successful in their strategy. They are spreading themselves too thin and, quoting the tweet above, you are unable to "focus... [on having] a solid presence, offer value & be [available]!" If a company is on every social network site, then who is monitoring it and are they spending an equal amount of time on each site?  If that is a difficult question to answer, then something has to be cut.

Running on the idea of quality is always the better plan. Not just on the foundation that quality serves a purpose (posting content... content must have a purpose), but this strategy will provide an opportunity to have solid and consistent presence, will be easier to increase value and it will give a company the time to be available and engaging with their customers.

My entire perception of social media is that it needs to be engaging. It is not an ad that is just forcing out information or just a sales pitch convincing you to buy into the idea of your brand, but is that emotional connection. In my opinion, social media is the personification of branding and to be able to achieve this, a company must be able to focus on being engaging and providing their social media pages with quality content that serves a purpose.

The lie of Success

Success has always been a great liar. ~ Nietzsche

Yes, I have found another quote on success that I really enjoy. I was originally not going to be writing about success again, but I did not personally like any of the directions I was heading in and found this quote.

In past posts I have stated that I ardently believe that great success comes from a failure. I do not believe you can fully appreciate success without  having much failure. Maybe this thought is due to the fact that I highly respect people who are in high positions who are still humble.

Success has always been a great liar. ~ Nietzsche

In a past post about success, I pointed out the fact that I hate the definition of success. I don't believe that the definition fully encompasses the truthful side of success.

We are spoon fed the idea when we are children that if you do not make a certain amount of money, or have a certain type of job or don't own the right things then you are not a success. This type of success is such a lie. This type of success is basing your entire life off of the expectations of other people's perception of success, while success should be a personal decision.

For example, during my last semester in college I had a practicum and a professor whom I respected at the beginning of the class. I thought I had a pretty good relationship with my professor and thought I was achieving all that I need to achieve (I have been learning not to be a people-pleaser). The group I was in turned in a paper that she did not approve of and ripped into me because I was the team leader. When she did this, it tore into my ego and left me with a lot of self-doubt because I was no longer successful, especially in the eyes of someone who I had highly respected.

That experience has left a lasting impression on me for a number of reasons, but more so the idea of what success is. I have looked back on our project and laugh at it, because it was not fully relevant nor would it have ever been able to be properly executed in a real life situation. But knowing that even now, it still doesn't take away the most important lesson I could have learned. I am the only one who can define my personal success and not some forced in standard of success.

Door of Knowledge

He who opens a school door, closes a prison. ~ Victor Hugo

I love learning. I believe that this has been evident in many of the quotes that I have written on, posts about literature and even the posts in which I give view points on different items in business. Honestly, I do not know when exactly when my fascination with learning began (maybe when I was little and would borrow books from the school library about different countries/historical figures), but it has been a part of my life as long as I have remembered.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison. ~ Victor Hugo

Does anyone else find it a little ironic that kids now a days consider school a prison? I find this intriguing, because I agree with the Hugo's quote but I can also agree with the these current students.

To get the students' point of view out of the way, school has become almost too test driven. I have friends who are teachers who have to make sure that kids are being able to answer questions but not necessarily teaching problem solving skills. It almost seems like we are more determined to turn these students into robots than freeing them from a prison.

Now, not all education or schools are like that. Like I stated before, I agree with Hugo's quote because it's not about the actual school, it is the opportunity that it gives each individual.

Schooling is the opportunity, because it gives individuals the tools to acquire knowledge not just in the classroom, but in places like the library or extracurricular activities. It is a place that can help an individual realize their full potential; a place to think outside the box; a place that can help you develop a passion; and a place that can help you achieve your dreams.

To me, opening a school door is opening a world of opportunity. I understand that there are many schools that are not like what I described or that some may not have been as fortunate as me to have teachers who encouraged a unique way of thinking.

It is our personal choice whether we live in a prison or not. It is our choice to open that door and to keep that door open for not only our continual learning, but for the education for future education.

Let's not live in a world full of prison filled ignorance, but a place where the doors of knowledge are left open.

Content: What's your purpose?

Last week I wrote about how Content isn't necessarily King, but it is important. This week I am still on the subject of Content, but taking a look at it's simplest form: the purpose.

Have you ever been on a website that has a lot of writing, but none of it answers your question? How about going to website that has so many pages that you are unable to navigate through it because they decided that they needed to put every detail on it, yet it still doesn't answer your question?

I am sure all of us have experienced this in some way. And when we do experience this, it is absolutely frustrating and you wonder why this company even has a website or that they need a better one.

So how do you solve a problem like this?

To me, the solution is very simple.

Asking one singular question can solve a lot of this : What is the content's purpose?

In any English class that assigns an essay, the essay has a purpose like answering a question, analyzing a piece of literature, summarizing events or giving an opinion. Creating content for a website is exactly like this! For whatever reason, we do not like to edit our webpages and sometimes leave these tangents on it, which can confuse potential customers.

A perfect example of this is when I worked on my first internship. Most of my work consisted of content creation, specifically on a donor website. Before I started analyzing the website and breaking it down page by page, I asked them who they were targeting. I wanted to be specific so the page had just enough information that wasn't at novels length with random tangents throughout and to make sure it was speaking to the audience. It would have served me no purpose if I just started writing because it wouldn't be directed to anyone. The only person it would have been connecting to was myself and to be honest, I was not a part of their donor target, but more so there volunteer target age.

Understanding your audience is vital. I know last week I mentioned that content should be informational, start to form an emotional connection and has endless possibilities, but none of that matters if you don't know whom you are writing to.

Also during this first internship, there were many times that I would question them with what they wanted and ask them whether it was more appropriate to put it on the donor site or the client site. I did this not to rebel against them, but to make sure that they were thinking about the audience for each site. This non-profit specifically had separate websites, because they realized that the audiences were different but were not always thinking in that way when we were revamping the websites.

It is crucial to constantly ask yourself what is the purpose of it. If you are writing and it hits you that one of the paragraphs serves no purpose, then delete it off your page. Every word you type, every phrase you use, every paragraph those form needs to fit a purpose.

If the content on your page does not serve a purpose, then you need to go back and evaluate what you have and move forward from there.

Like I said last week, content is important, but if it serves no purpose then you are not utilizing the endless possibilities of content.

Old Enough to read Fairy Tales

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. - C.S. Lewis

I love fairy tales. If I am ever feeling down or just need an easy read to get my mind off of life, I pick up my book of fairy tales.

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. - C.S. Lewis

Fairy tales to me have never equated to just stories for children. There is a deeper meaning for each story and many lessons that come up more prominent as you become older.

I could give out examples and give an in-depth analysis on some of the lessons that are featured in each story, but I don't think that would be relevant with where Lewis is going when he said this.

There is something innocent and pure about fairy tales. There is also the fact that there is magic and for whatever reason when you become an adult, having that hint of magic is forbidden. It's like when you turn a certain age, it is no longer okay to be able to have an imagination and believe in the impossible.

For some odd reason as we grow up we turn into this (Robin Williams Character in Hook):

Williams' character lost his magic. He isn't old enough to be able to read fairy tales again.

I believe we should be more like this (Disney's Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland):

I want to be like Wendy in this scene. I personally don't ever want to lose the magic behind the fairy tales. There is just something about holding onto the magic that will forever keep you young and believing in the impossible.

I believe Lewis said this quote to somebody who just focused on being a "grown-up" who lost the magic. I believe he was warning them that if they don't believe now, then one day they may come back to these tales and realize that they have missed out of the magic all around them.

So, I believe I am old enough to read fairy tales. How about you?